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Ukrainian Forces Pushed To Outskirts Of Syevyerodonetsk, Governor Says, As Talks On Grain Exports Conclude

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service June 08, 2022

Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the outskirts of the eastern city of Syevyerodonetsk, the region's governor said on June 8 as the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers concluded talks in Ankara on a plan to open a sea corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain.

Luhansk governor Serhiy Hayday said Ukrainian forces control the outskirts of Syevyerodonetsk, but that fighting continues. He told the RBC-Ukraine media outlet that "it is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city."

Hayday said later on Telegram that Russian forces "control a large part of Syevyerodonetsk" but he added that the industrial zone of the city "is still ours." Fighting continues in the streets, he said.

Syevyerodonetsk has been the focus of fighting for weeks. It became the target of Russia's assault after their forces were repelled from other parts of Ukraine following Moscow's invasion of the country in February.

Ukrainian special forces launched a counteroffensive days ago and cleared almost half of the city, but it made no sense for them to stay when Russia started levelling the area with shelling and air strikes, Hayday was quoted as saying in the RBC-Ukraine report.

Hayday said that Lysychansk, which is across the river from Syevyerodonetsk, was also being shelled.

Lysychansk remains fully under the control of the Ukrainian Army but is under "powerful and chaotic" shelling, he said on Telegram, accusing Russian forces of deliberately targeting hospitals and humanitarian aid distribution centers.

"The destruction is enormous."

Hayday's accounts could not be immediately verified.

Russia claimed on June 7 that residential areas in Syevyerodonetsk had been "fully liberated" while Ukrainian forces still held the industrial zone and surrounding settlements.

But the British Defense Ministry said on June 8 that it was unlikely either side had gained "significant ground" the previous day.

The Ukrainian defenses are holding, the ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin, despite Russia's continued assault on the city from three directions.

The British intelligence report assessed that Russian forces have been solely concentrating their offensive on the central Donbas sector and have remained on the defensive on its flanks.

The report also said Ukrainians had even achieved some success recently "by counterattacking in the southwestern Kherson region, including regaining a foothold on the eastern bank of the Ingulets River."

In Kyiv, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said the World Bank had approved a $1.49 billion tranche of funding for Ukraine.

"Funding will be used to pay wages for social workers & civil servants. Ukraine's recovery & victory will be the victory of democracy & whole civilized world," Shmygal wrote on Twitter.

The Washington-based lending arm of the International Monetary Fund has now pledged more than $4 billion in support for Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

Meanwhile, Russian news agency TASS reported that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who were taken prisoner in the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol have been transferred to Russia for investigation.

Ukraine is seeking the handover of all the estimated 2,000 fighters from the Azovstal plant in a prisoner swap, but Russian lawmakers have demanded that some of the soldiers be put on trial.

Another exchange of bodies has taken place between Russia and Ukraine, the Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories reported on June 8.

According to a statement, the exchange took place on the front line in the Zaporizhzhya. Of the 50 bodies of Ukrainians received, 37 were "heroic defenders of Azovstal," the agency notes.

The process of returning the bodies of Ukrainian servicemen continues, the ministry added.

The Ukrainian military said on June 7 that the Russians had handed over 210 bodies of Ukrainian troops, most of whom who died defending the city of Mariupol from Russian forces at the vast steel works.

On the diplomatic front, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on June 8 in Ankara with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on unblocking grain exports from Ukraine.

Cavusoglu said the talks were fruitful and voiced support for a safe maritime sea corridor, but Lavrov said the onus was on Ukraine to demine its ports as a precondition for safe shipment.

Russia has urged Ukraine to remove mines from the area near the Black Sea port of Odesa. Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Russia will not use the demined corridors to launch an attack on the key Ukrainian port.

Russia is ready to formalize that guarantee for Odesa, Lavrov said after the talks in Ankara. He promised that Russia would not "abuse" its naval advantage in the Black Sea if Ukraine's ports were demined.

Ukraine, which was not represented at the Ankara meeting, says Russia's promise not to use safe shipping corridors to attack Odesa is not credible.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar said no specific agreements came out of the talks as both sides set conditions.

"The Turkish side has received information from the Russian side about their position, and now we are waiting for communication between the Ukrainian side and the Turkish side to find common ground," Bodnar said.

He accused the Russian side of playing "stupid games" and demanded that the Russians withdraw and unblock the ports.

"Then we can say that we can demine and allow ships to leave the ports in order, first of all, to ensure their safety and secondly to export grain safely," said the ambassador.

At the same time, he suggested that Russia was not interested in releasing grain because it has been stealing it.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that there have been "credible reports...that Russia is pilfering Ukraine's grain exports to sell for its own profit."

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, CNN, the BBC, dpa, and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-syevyerodonetsk-donbas- fighting/31888506.html

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Ukrainian Forces Pushed To Outskirts Of Syevyerodonetsk, Governor Says, As Talks On Grain Exports Conclude